Social media marketing strategies of independent vs major labels in Estonia

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze and describe music marketing strategies, focusing on social media marketing, that independent record labels and artists make use of, compare these strategies to those used by affiliated or the Big Three major labels in Estonia, and then present the most favorable social media marketing strategy for beginner independent record labels and artists without requiring strong backing. For this thesis, the author proposed finding the most effective free social media marketing method for increasing online visibility and community-building activities on Instagram to ANTICREW OÜ, an Estonian beginner independent record label and the commissioning company of this research. Reviewing the literature on the historical background of Estonia and its reference to music, analyzing cultural events connected to music, and examining how digitalization affected them were the first steps taken by the research writer. To gain a better understanding of the set of rules, concepts, contracts, and definitions of the modern music business, the author explored and presented intellectual property law and copyrights, record deals and their types, and record labels concepts and the hierarchy behind them. Following a discussion of music marketing strategies used by major labels in Estonia, the author introduced a free social media community-based marketing strategy based on Lil Peep's rise phenomenon and DTA Records' modern Instagram promotion operation, which featured such artists as Avril Lavigne and Jxdn. Based on the results of this thesis, the author attempted to increase the existing data about the power of fandom to drive business in the modern music industry. Moreover, it was found that fandom has a significant impact on artists' development and popularity growth, which would make it helpful for ANTICREW OÜ and its artists' Instagram promotion strategies to make a difference